Avengers Tower, also known as Stark Tower, was a high-rise building complex located in Manhattan, New York City. Owned and constructed by Tony Stark, the tower is powered by an Arc Reactor that makes it capable of running itself for over a year. The top ten floors were originally all devoted to research and development.

Following the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark made the tower the main headquarters of the Avengers. However, after the Ultron Offensive, Stark refurbished an old Stark Industries warehouse upstate into the New Avengers Facility for the Avengers to use as their primary base while Avengers Tower was repurposed for Stark Industries' use. Following the Avengers Civil War, Stark sold the tower and had the valuable items and artifacts loaded onto a cargo plane for transport to the New Avengers Facility.[1]

Potts presented the plans for a structure acquired by Stark Industries, that would be transformed into the Stark Tower, the first completely clean energy-powered skyscraper in Manhattan, hoping it would become a model for future development in the city.

During the press conference, Tony Stark called Potts to congratulate her and told her that he was waiting for her to have a date with a bottle of Dom Pérignon. Potts told Stark that she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and told him she assumed that he remembered their date was the following night. Stark replied that he obviously remembered, as he was in Malibu altering one of his armors.

A few months later, Stark helped in the construction of the tower, lifting the giant letters in the front of the building as Iron Man, when James Rhodes contacted him to learn about the Ten Rings, responsible of his his kidnapping in Afghanistan. Stark told him that his investigations after confronting them at Gulmira led to nowhere, as the Ten Rings operated in autonomous cells, and the highest-ranking operative in each cell had one contact in another cell, but not with the overall leader.[2]

Lighting of Stark Tower

Tony Stark finished installing the last piece of an Arc Reactor in the undersea wiring near New York City thanks to his Iron Manarmor, in order to disconnect the newly constructed Stark Tower from the general electricity network, becoming the first self-sustained building in New York.

Stark contacted Pepper Potts while returning to the tower to tell her that she could turn on the light. Stark witnessed how the Tower got lit, and entered inside to celebrate with Potts.

J.A.R.V.I.S. informed Stark that agent Phil Coulson was trying to contact him, but Stark dismissed the call. Potts checked the energy levels of the tower were stable, and discussed with Stark how the idea about Stark Tower came from the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest. Stark suggested Potts that she must attribute herself a 12% percent of the merit, and although he tried to justify himself, Stark realized the comment was inappropriate.

Coulson called Stark again, annulling J.A.R.V.I.S.'s protocols, and although Stark tried to dismiss him again, Coulson appeared in the tower, where Potts greeted him on a first-name basis to Stark's surprise.

As Coulson explained that his visit was not based on Stark's status as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., he thought it had to do with the Avengers Initiative, even though that project had been discarded and Stark had been deemed as unsuitable.

Iron Man arrived at Stark Tower and was informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. that the Arc Reactor had been disconnected, but the Tesseract was already activated. Stark asked Selvig to turn off the device, but Selvig said it was too late for it, so Stark tried to attack the device. The barrier surrounding the Tesseract knocked both Stark and Selvig down, breaking Loki's control over Selvig.

Stark descended to the penthouse of the tower to deal personally with Loki. Stark entertained Loki while J.A.R.V.I.S. prepared the Mark VII Armor. Stark offered Loki a drink, menacing him of how he should be afraid of the Avengers, as he pissed each and every one of them.

Loki tried to control Stark, but as the Scepter touched the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest, the reaction was not the one he expected, and he couldn't control Stark. Angered by his failure, Loki threw Stark off a window, and he was saved in the nick of time by the Mark VII Armor launched by J.A.R.V.I.S., who attached to him before hitting the ground.

Iron Man went to confront Loki again, this time in the name of Phil Coulson, knocking down Loki with an attack of his repulsor gauntlets.[3]

First Waves

A portal to the Sanctuary was finally opened, and the first waves of the Chitauri began arriving on Earth above Stark Tower. Iron Man managed to destroy the first Chitauri that crossed the portal, but their number soon proved to be more than Iron Man could handle alone.

The Chitauri began spreading through the area surrounding Stark Tower and attacking civilians, while Loki beheld the destruction they were causing. Thor arrived and ordered Loki to turn the Tesseract off, or he would destroy it. Loki went to attack his brother, battling on Stark Tower.[3]

Iron Man contacted James Rhodes in order to obtain his assistance during the battle, but Rhodes was in Hong Kong at the moment, telling Stark that even with the flying at supersonic speed as War Machine, it would took him an hour to arrive.[2]

Thor tried to reason with Loki, asking him if he thought that madness would end under his rule. Loki seized to opportunity to stab Thor with a concealed knife. Outraged, Thor went to hit Loki, seemingly beating him into submission, but Loki managed to flee in one of the Chitauri Chariots, leaving his scepter behind, and began mercilessly attacking civilians.[3]

Black Widow's Ascent to the Tower

Black Widow realized that they needed to close the portal after containment proved to be overwhelming. Captain America helped her to jump on a Chitauri Chariot to quickly ascend to Stark Tower while the rest of the Avengers continued to battle the Chitauri.

Loki began following Black Widow, shooting at her to prevent her from reaching the Tesseract, but Hawkeye was able to shoot him and knock him down from his vehicle, landing on Stark Tower. Hulk jumped to Stark Tower, and while Loki tried to exert his superiority as a god, Hulk savagely beat him.

Black Widow approached the Tesseract, and Erik Selvig, now free from Loki's control, revealed that the Scepter was the key to close the portal.[3]

End of the Battle

The World Security Council decided to send a nuclear missile and make it explode in New York City to contain the Chitauri invasion. Iron Man told Black Widow to wait when she was in the rooftop of the Tower, about to close the portal, as he planned to send the missile through the portal.

Seeing that Iron Man would not be returning, Captain America ordered Black Widow to close the portal using the Scepter, and Iron Man fell off the portal in the nick of time.

Together, the six Avengers went to the penthouse of the Tower to confront Loki, who surrendered and now accepted the drink Iron Man offered him earlier.[3]

The Melter

Attack at Stark Tower

Tony Stark organized a press conference in front of the Stark Tower to promote the tower's status as the first completely clean-energy powered skyscraper in New York, explaining that despite the skepticism, he had developed clean energy technology as powerful and efficient as other methods. To demonstrate it, he shut down the connection between the Arc Reactor in his chest and his Iron Man Armor, connecting the armor to the solar panels of the tower to power it up.

In the middle of the press conference, Stark was attacked by Bruno Horgan, calling himself the Melter, who attacked him with a weapon he denominated the Melting Ray. In his first attack, Horgan severed the connection between Iron Man and the Stark Tower, and the second one, that Stark didn't evade thinking his armor would withstand, caused malfunctions in the armor's internal systems.

Horgan, having defeated Iron Man by making some debris fall over Stark, announced that he would hold another demonstration in a few days, and after that his technology would be sold to the highest bidder, and that he would contact the potential purchasers.[4]

Investigation

Tony Stark and James Rhodes discussed the need of finding Bruno Horgan before he managed to sell his technology, and made a friendly wager to investigate Horgan, each one using their own methods.

Rhodes used formal procedures and contacted his superiors to request warrants and obtain information about sales records of micro-processors and industrial properties with large spikes in power usage, even defeating a group of gun smugglers in the process. On the other hand, Stark hacked the email accounts of suspected organized crime figures, offered a deal to the CEO of another company in case he was contacted by Horgan, and hacked the surveillance cameras of New York to investigate Horgan's route while abandoning Stark Tower following his attack on Stark.

Their research proved to be unsuccessful, as Stark discovered that Horgan contacted his buyers through impossible to trace disposable cell phones, and the only clue he obtained from one of the buyers was a background industrial machinery sound. Rhodes traced the supplies ordered by Horgan, but they ended in a rental office where temporary workers loaded them in cars that ended up disappearing.

Stark and Rhodes combined their research, cross-referencing the list of industrial facilities obtained by Rhodes with the flight trajectory map obtained by Stark. Stark noticed an automobile scrapyard that matched both requisites and deduced it was Horgan's hideout, as he would have easily made his cars disappear there.[4]

Therapy Session

Tony Stark retold the story of his battle against Aldrich Killian to his friend Bruce Banner, detailing the story from the beginning in Switzerland. As Stark was wrapping the story and thanking Banner for listening, Stark realized Banner had been sleeping since almost the beginning of the tale.

Banner excused himself as he was not a therapist and lacked the necessary temperament for it. Stark ignored this comment and began telling more stories of his life, much to the dismay of Banner who went to sleep again.[5]

Gathering of Fans

"She's a groupie, all the hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D., tracking powers. She might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay characters crowding around Stark Tower."

Project Insight

By 2014, Stark Tower had been rebranded as Avengers Tower, and it was one of the intended targets of Project Insight, as Tony Stark was deemed a threat for HYDRA's plans. The Insight satellites marked Stark as a candidate along numerous other individuals in New York City. The city was not shot as Captain America and his allies were able to change the intended targets and stop HYDRA in time.[7]

Contacting Coulson

Creating Ultron

In the wake of HYDRA's defeat with S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark decided to create weapons capable of seeking out and defeating HYDRA's remaining outposts and members, creating the artificial intelligence known as Ultron in the process.[9]

Ultron's Attack

After attacking J.A.R.V.I.S., the newly created Ultron launched an offensive against the Avengers inside of the tower. While the Avengers fought back, Ultron recognized Helen Cho's potential and one of his sentries fled with Loki's scepter. After his main body was destroyed, Ultron entered the Internet and spread across the globe, filled with purpose about saving the world by exterminating the Avengers.[9]

Creating Vision

Following a skirmish in Seoul, the Avengers reunited in the Tower alongside Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Having retrieved a device known as the Cradle containing what was supposed to be Ultron's final body, Tony opted to upload J.A.R.V.I.S. into it in order to use the body to fight Ultron, resulting in a disagreement with Captain America and a brief brawl to ensue. The fight was interrupted when Thor arrived and used Mjølnir to jumpstart the body. Being dubbed the "Vision", this android would persuade the Avengers into working together in order to stop Ultron. The group would then depart shortly afterwards aboard their Quinjet.[9]

Selling the Tower

"Eight years. Not a word from the feds, nothing from those Halloween costume wearing bozos up there over at Stark Tower. And then all of a sudden, this little bastard in red tights shows up, and he thinks he can tear down everything I've built. Really? I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna find him, and I'm gonna kill him."

Trivia

The production designer used the MetLife Building as a basis for the tower. The back-story he created was that Stark bought the building and replaced the upper structure.[12][13]

In a bit of creative license, the Daredevil motion poster depicts the building turned 90 degrees from its orientation in the movies so that the logo can be seen. From Hell's Kitchen, the western side of the building would be visible, but the logo is on the southern side.